http://smart-money-report.com/blog Your common sense guide for financial and investment success Fri, 09 Jun 2006 09:31:41 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Every once in awhile I'll read an article or a post on a Web site about how the Commitments of Traders (COT) report shouldn't be taken very seriously. I'm amazed at how otherwise intelligent people just don't seem to grasp the report's significance. Maybe I have an advantage. Years ago, when ... http://smart-money-report.com/blog/archives/198 Have you ever met with a financial planner? If you haven't, you can expect to go through a certain process. You will be asked about your financial goals. One of your goals will likely be that you want to plan for retirement. You will be asked about your present income. You ... http://smart-money-report.com/blog/archives/197 I was reading Yahuda Fruchter's review of Bernard Baruch's book, "My Own Story." I love the two quotes he cites: When as a young and unknown man I started to be successful I was referred to as a gambler. My operations increased in scope and volume. Then I was known as ... http://smart-money-report.com/blog/archives/196 I think it’s safe to say that most people would look at the stock market since early 2003 and conclude that it is a bull market. After all, a popular definition of a bull market is one where a major stock index gains at least 20%. And ... http://smart-money-report.com/blog/archives/195 Mark Hulbert has been following the accuracy of market timers for as long as I can remember. He makes an astute observation in his current article posted on Market Watch (I think free registration may be required). Here are what I think are his most important points ... http://smart-money-report.com/blog/archives/194 Exchange traded funds (or ETFs) are better for most investors than mutual funds. The mutual fund industry has experienced tremendous growth over that last twenty-five years or so. But it's a new era now. It's the era of the ETF. What are exchange traded funds? ETFs are similar to index ... http://smart-money-report.com/blog/archives/193 There are five pillars to our approach to investment success. Number 1: Identify Major Investment Themes In early 2003, we identified our favorable and unfavorable major investment themes for the next 10, 15, 20 years or so: Favorable investment themes: Gold and silver Oil Other commodities Emerging markets Unfavorable investment themes: U.S. stocks (with certain exceptions) U.S. bonds U.S. real ... http://smart-money-report.com/blog/archives/183 The Commitments of Traders report (COT) is a weekly government report that is extremely valuable in knowing what the "smart money" is doing in various futures markets. There is a report for each futures market. Although COT reports have been around for years, the average investor not only doesn't know ... http://smart-money-report.com/blog/archives/182 The new Gold Miners Index ETF (GDX) that started trading last week looks like a winner. I find it very difficult to analyze gold mining stocks from a traditional fundamental analysis perspective, so I think an ETF that tracks a good gold mining index is going to be very popular. GDX ... http://smart-money-report.com/blog/archives/181 There has been a lot of hype over the commodity sell off. And, indeed, it has caused us to take profits in most of our mining stocks. But there has also been a big pull back in emerging markets: The I-Shares emerging market ETF (EEM) is off 16% in less than ... http://smart-money-report.com/blog/archives/179